


Our dance shall be grand

by grammartian



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Blood, Emetophobia, F/M, Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood Spoilers, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:53:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28556433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grammartian/pseuds/grammartian
Summary: Before the fight at the Royal Menagerie, and after.
Relationships: Zenos yae Galvus/Original Character(s), Zenos yae Galvus/Warrior of Light
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Maura is my max height femroe wol. She has short red hair, dark skin and red eyes. I might add a picture of her here later.
> 
> I also might add more chapters to this if they come to me.

Zenos sat in silence. Although he seemed calm, like most of the time, his mind was churning like a tempest. Thinking of her, his enemy... his friend. His first and only friend after enemies aplenty. The first person who had ever understood him... or at least so he thought. No, surely she understood him. He'd seen the bloodlust in her eyes, the force behind her weapon, the power in her movements. Mayhaps not as strong as he but she had the potential, and the determination, to reach him, to surpass him, to grant him the thing he craved the most.

A worthy opponent, a fight to end all fights.

To grant him the only pleasure he had ever felt, when dancing between the blade strokes of an opponent who may well end him.

And... he did not intend to come out of this alive, if Maura was as good as he hoped she could be by now.

Suddenly Zenos felt bile rising in his throat. He stood up and marched to the bathroom, hunched over the sink he let the contents of his stomach spill.  
It did not do for him to go into battle on a full stomach anyway. It would weigh him down, make him sluggish. He had to be in his best form for her. He knew Maura would extend him the same courtesy.

Washing his mouth out, Zenos took one last glance at his room and left for the throne room.

\- - - 

Maura ran. Her legs were about to give in but she was going to continue running, until she reached Zenos, until she could stop him-

But just as she got to him he finished his farewell to her and made a deep cut.

She lunged at him, hands on his neck, desperately trying to stop it, keep the blood in him, _this was not how he was going to leave her._

She was yelling.

She was covered in sweat and blood, bathed in a fountain of warm red coming in spurts from his neck, despite her desperate efforts to stop them.

She removed her eyes from her hands just in time to meet his fading gaze, and Zenos was smiling up at her, serene and calm.

The silence was broken only by steps behind her.

A hand on her shoulder.

A soft voice.

'He should have lived to suffer,' she heard her own shaky voice, the words painful to get out without accompanying them with tears.

They both knew that was not the reason behind her frantic desperation to keep him alive.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felis comes home to something gone very wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Felis is my friend's hrothgar, who is co-WoL in some cases with Maura, like a father to her. They share a house with their own rooms. He's very sweet and we affectionately call him Mr Cat.

Felis was finally near home. After that mess with Doma he was really looking forward to a few calm days.

However when he approached the house, something felt off. It was a bright and sunny day and Maura wasn't basking in the sun or slaving over the forge in the yard, very unusual for her. Maybe she was busy inside or gone out?

Opening the front door only made things worse. Inside smelled stale, and like something was rotting. There was something very wrong here. Felis closed the door behind himself and crept further inside.

The corridor seemed fine, aside from the unpleasant stench. He opened the door to the living room and the smell got stronger. 

Careful not to make a sound, Felis crept inside and stood still for a few moments. It was much darker than outside and his eyes needed to adjust, but this was definitely the source. He realised some of the smell was actually aether… something very wrong about it. 

He felt a very faint presence there… like someone struggling to cling onto life. And then he noticed that there was someone on the sofa. Maura? He could barely hear her breathe. 

Felis rushed to her before he had to stop, barely evading a sword in his face.

He looked up at two years glowing red.

'Leave,' the attacker spoke. Felis realised it was… Zenos?

'She doesn't need you.' A female voice spoke next to Felis and he saw two eyes glowing blue. It was Ysayle.

'She has us now,' a second female voice spoke and Felis turned around to see Minfilia, holding out her daggers.

'What the- you are all dead!' Felis called.

'She brought us back.' Another male voice spoke. 

'Haucherfant?'

The dead were surrounding him, cutting him off from the barely breathing Maura.

'Leave like the coward you are.' Said a duskwright elezen man with a lance that Felis did not know, pointing the weapon at his throat.

Felis quickly drew his star globe out and cast combust on Zenos's specter (what else could he be?!) which was pushed some way back. He did the same with the other four, getting some distance between him and them, retreating to the nearest wall.

The five specters came closer again and Felis saw no other way but to cast Malefic when they were far and Combust when they drew too close.

He drew a card, the Spear. It would hardly help but was better than nothing.

It seemed to be enough, however, as soon the duskwright's specter keeled over and dissipated into aether. Even in the chaos, Felis noticed that Maura's breathing seemed to get a bit stronger, so he kept fighting. Soon Minfilia, Haucherfant and Ysayle's specters followed. 

Zenos was last, and seemed to be stronger with the other three defeated.

Desperately, Felis drew another card.

Lady of Crowns.

It gave him just enough of an edge to topple over the last specter, and soon he had dissolved into aether as well.

With that done, Felis ran over to the sofa, kneeling next to Maura.

She had a steady, if a bit weak pulse, and her breathing was less shallow than before.

Those specters seemed to be draining her aether, so it was little wonder she had passed out. 

The question was, how had this happened?

He sighed. He was exhausted himself, but found enough strength to cast a Benefic on her.

Felis sat back on the floor, leaning on the sofa and toppling over some bottles that had been behind him. He would have to clean up this mess soon.

* * *

Maura woke up, heavy as lead, a splitting headache making her close her eyes as soon as she opened them.

'You're alright,' Felis said, his relief was palpable.

'Why wouldn't I be?' Maura asked, wincing from the pain. 'Well besides the headache. Hells, how much did I drink last night?'

Maura finally mustered enough energy to roll on her side and crack open her eyes. Thankfully it was dark. Felis was looking at her, tired and worried. Maura looked around the room and saw the table toppled, the living room a mess.

'What happened here?'

'You tell me,' Felis said. He didn't sound angry.

'It looks like a herd of dhalmel ran through here, I don't think I get _that_ rowdy when I drink.'

'Do you really not know what you did?'

'I'm not sure I do, Felis.'

'The room is like this because I had to fight simulacra of Minfilia, Haucherfant, Ysayle...'

While he was talking the previous day came back to her.

Maura had gotten into some alcohol she'd bought earlier. Talking to herself about her dead comrades, there suddenly had been a shadow looming over her. An armor clad hand had reached out, taking her chin and making her look up.

'No, you died,' she had said to Zenos.

'Clearly I did not. You may be too drunk, my Beast.' He'd said, letting go of her face and taking the bottle from her hand, throwing it aside.

Maura had felt hot tears down her face. Then another hand next to her had reached out, wiping her eye.

She'd turned to them and next to her on the sofa was sitting Ysayle, face strangely soft. She had wiped Maura's other eye too. 'It's okay.' She'd said.

A warm hand on her shoulder and she'd looked the other way too.

Haucherfant had been smiling down at her, reassuring and soft. 'We're here now.'

Minfilia and Foulques had appeared too.

Once Maura had gotten over her initial shock, she'd drunkenly tried to hug them all, Zenos standing stiff in his uncomfortable armor and Foulques protesting the entire time.

But she could feel them, like real people, and her tears had dried quickly. She'd stayed up all night talking to them. One of them had brought her water at some point (Haucherfant, no doubt).

Somehow having this small gathering of people who had clearly been dead for years or less never felt off to Maura, even when she felt her strength draining. Even having someone as good as Haucherfant and someone as bad as Zenos in the same room.

No, she had been far too happy and engrossed in the fantasy of her own creation to notice until it had gotten too late and the last thing she remembered was dropping her glass of water as she'd tried to drink it.

'What happened when you came back, Felis?' Maura asked, feeling tears pricking again at the corners of her eyes, but thankfully it seemed even they were far too drained.

He explained and she sighed.

'I'm sorry.'

'It doesn't sound like it was on purpose, Maura.'

'Leave the mess here, go rest. I'll clean later.'

'You're not going anywhere, and neither am I.'


End file.
